Robilar

I have received the EVGA 780i A1 Motherboard. My understanding is that there will also be a T1 release but will as with the 680i series be identical with the exception of warranty bundled accessories.

Given the success of my Asus P5N32-E Motherboard Overclocking Guide I have decided to add a new thread.

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==

HardOCP Review

http://www.guru3d.com/article/nforce...li_review/482/

Review of the XFX version


http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/13790

Another reference review

A few things I've learned so far:

9.64 Chipset drivers available (dated March 18)

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_winxp_9.64.html

(thanks to Tae)

Use P07 bios.

Ntune Beta version 6.0 is designed for the 780i and is very slick. Thanks to Nuclearjock for pointing out that this software will make your computer shut down very slowly but otherwise works fine.


The stock NB fan is way too loud. Syrillian made a great suggestion below (with a pic) about using an Antec Spot Cool (they cost about $12). I ordered one myself to give it a go. Anything will be better than this stock fan.

USB motherboard headers, Firewire Header and Front Panel connectors are in a terrible location if you use SLI (Especially if you have a removable motherboard).

I have also noticed in some initial testing that my current cpu needs less vcore to reach OC that I benched on my prior 680i boards. For 3.724 for example, I needed about 1.44 vcore to be stable (before vdroop). With this board I was able to do an orthos blend (Gave it an hour or so) at 1.41 vcore and it was stable. Not a huge difference but considering its the exact same chip it helps.


Courtesy of Ericeod, he was able to confirm that a single video card must be placed in the top slot and provided a screenshot.

http://www.neowin.net/news/software/...tools-600-beta

Ntune Beta 6.0 Link (for XP)


http://www.lavalys.com/beta/everestu...wel3fkdm5c.zip

Here is a link for the Everest Ultimate Beta that works as well



Here is the P07 bios (ISO version only)

ftp://ftp.evga.com/bios/NF78_P07.iso


- DDR2-1066 stability improvements
- Improve operation of SLI-Ready DDR2-1066 memory
- Stability improvements for Kentsfield 1333 CPUs
- Improve detection of several PCIe cards, including certain SCSI cards



Vdroop Pencil Mod:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...3&postcount=16

Link to Joemaniaci's 780i heatpipe removal guide:

http://www.overclock.net/nvidia/3038...-here-now.html


Here is an FTP link for beta chipset drivers from EVGA (apparently resolves SATA DVD issues)

XP 32 bit only!

ftp://ftp.evga.com/driver/9.46_SATA.zip



Current OCN Owners:

Myself: EVGA 790i Ultra (upgraded again )

Litlratt: EVGA 780i

Nuclearjock: Asus Striker II Formula

Syrillian: EVGA 780i

SolShade: EVGA 780i

jomaniaci: EVGA 780i

hiiyah777: EVGA 780i

Marin: EVGA 780i

Swatsor: EVGA 780i

Juanchipms: EVGA 780i

Nitteo: Asus P5N-T

{core2duo}werd: EVGA 780i

Nick226: EVGA 780i

marc.tulley: Asus Striker II Formula

Tis I Lucifer: EVGA 780i

Erball: EVGA 780i

2Luke2: EVGA 780i

Dominazn: EVGA 780i

XFreeRollerX: EVGA 780i

jaybeerex: XFX 780i

Nuclearcrap: EVGA 780i

Killerhz: EVGA 780i

MrSpock2002: EVGA 780i

avatar1983: XFX 780i

Deezle98: EVGA 780i

Tae: EVGA 780i

Iconoclast: EVGA 780i

Danylu: EVGA 780i

kkbob33: EVGA 780i

Attached Thumbnails

         

Robilar

Here are my bios settings using a Q6600 GO at 3.2 Ghz and 3.6 Ghz

CPU Config:

Disable C1E State

Disable Execute Disable Bit

Disable Virtualization Technology

Standard CMOS:

Disable 1.44 Floppy (Unless you actually have one and need it for RAID drivers)

Advanced Bios:

I disable all boot devices except hard drive and disable boot other devices. This speeds boot up time and also in case you leave a memory stick by accident in the system prevents your system from taking time to try to boot from it.

Full Screen Logo: Enable

Advanced:

Disable HPET

Voltages:

Set Memory to 2.1 V (whcih is the default for my OCZ ram)

CPU Voltage:

For 3.2 I set it to: 1.3625

For 3.6 I set it to: 1.48125

(These will vary based on your chips' VID and stepping)

Other voltages:

(All set manually do not leave them on auto)

CPU FSB: 1.4v

Memory: To whatever your ram needs

Nforce SPP: 1.4v

Nforce MCP: 1.525v

HT Nforce SPP: 1.25V


FSB/Memory:

Set Memory clock mode to Linked & Synchronous


FSB/QDR: Set to 1600 (400 FSB)

For cpu multiplier, for 3.2 to 8x, for 3.6 to 9x.

Leave Memory speed at 800mhz

Memory Timings:

4-4-4-8

1T


System Monitor:

Dynamic Fan Control set to Manual

PNP/PCI:

Set initial display to PCIEx (default is PCI)

Integrated Peripherals:

Turn off Onchip IDE Channel 0

MAC Config Turn off MAC01

IEEE Controller to disable

HD Audio to Disable

Onboard FDC Controller to Disable

Serial port to Disable


Please note these settings reflect my own setup and preferences.

Attached Thumbnails

         

Robilar

Reserved for more pics

Robilar

Courtesy of the EVGA forums

780i boards and ESA Compliance:

ESA is a system monitoring standard that many of the top manufacturers have agreed to support because it benefits them all. Currently, products like Everest, RivaTuner, NVidia System Monitor and others all have to write their own interface code for the various sensor chips, components, etc. Another problem with the current state of things is that a company that makes performance components like power supplies might want to add an interface that would allow software to monitor temperature, current loads, voltages, etc. except that there would be no guarantee that anyone would support their interface.

With ESA, each party to the standard agrees that all power supplies will use the same monitoring interface, Graphics cards will use another standard interfaces, all fan controllers will have thier own standard interface and so on. This way as soon as a power supply manufacturer releases a new ESA product, it will immediately work with any ESA standard monitor.

There have been many similar standards in the past such as Microsoft's "Perfmon" interface, SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), Java's ARM (Application Response Measurement) and others. These types of standards are extremely good for folks like us that spend lots of money on hardware and just want it all to work together without it being a huge problem. Personally, I think it's going to be very cool to know exactly how much current the graphics cards are sucking up at various performance/temperature levels, how the 12v rails are holding up as maximum current draw is approached or many other such performance measurement combinations that should be possible once fully ESA-equipped computers are available.

The spring on the bottom of the EVGA 780i motherboard is simply attached to the primary SPP heatsink assembly on the top and is designed to ground it to the case. Think of this just like the rear I/O panel with the little tabs that touch the metal cases around the audio, network and USB connectors to ground them to the case. PC's are now running at frequencies that are not only much higher than AM, FM or TV, they are approaching RADAR frequencies so the RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) they generate can play havoc with lots of stuff. Its theorized that some of the newer ESA monitors in development right now have found that their frequency readings are jumping all over if that little spring isn't in place so its advised you to use it since there certainly isn't any down-side to having it in place.


Note: This spring is no longer attached on some of the newer board revisions. No explanation from EVGA but with or without seems to have no effect on the board.

Attached Thumbnails

         

nuclearjock

Rob,

A while back I posted this relating a bad experience with a friend's XFX 780i. Well it turned out to be a flaky board. His replacement board worked beatifully so I now own one as well.

Since both the EVGA and XFX boards are identical, are you encouraging feedback from XFX users in this thread as well??

__________________

RAFFY

this thread is point less. the 680i n 780i have the same chipsets overclocking is the same.

HappyVirus

Well for newbies like me, posts like this would help me very much...You get an early thank you from me xD

RAFFY

hop over to the EVGA forums. there is a great guide for oc best guide out there.

Litlratt

Making definitive statements, regarding something you obviously have a limited knowledge of, is not recommended.

__________________

Got a fast rig? Enjoy overclocking and tweaking?
Then put that rig to the test and benchmark for
score by joining the OCN HWBot Team

nuclearjock

People with QX9650's will be interested in results from this thread.

680i does not support Yorkfield quads, except for one DFI board.

__________________